A Year Is Way Too Long To Wait! We Just Keep Booking Trips!

[pas130]

Oh so nice of Maddie to "help" the situation We just cant win! Sarah loves the water rides, especially Kali River Rapids, so just more things to out on the list that one kids likes and the other doesn't, lol!

Exactly!

Totally bummed out Magic Bands should be here any minute now, but I can't make my FP+ selections. Our AP's expire before we go and even though I have renewed them already, the FL resident certificates cannot be linked through MDE. And of course you have to have valid park admission linked through the MDE to be able to make FP+ selections. I was told I will have to wait until I am in the parks and convert my certificates to passes and then link those to MDE. I was really hoping to grab a Wishes or parade viewing selection. Oh well, guess if it is meant to be it will still be available when we get there.

Grrr!!! How aggravating they can't fix that...but I am not surprised. Even I could work IT there I think
BTW, can you pick the colors you want??? They are SO cool

 

[babyberger]

I think the color choices were: blue, green, pink, red, orange, yellow and grey. If you don't customize them before they ship they all come in grey.

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[pas130]

I think the color choices were: blue, green, pink, red, orange, yellow and grey. If you don't customize them before they ship they all come in grey.

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Cool! Grey...why not default to red like Mickey's shorts??? I am so doomed to flunk school now that I have a WDW trip in the works...

 

[Surfinpiratee]

OH MY GOODNESS. That EE picture! It's too cute!! I'm enjoying reading your report so far!!

Have you stayed at Lake Buena Vista Resort before?! That may be the one for us in January!!

Does anyone know, is it inside/how close is it to the WDW gates??

 

[babyberger]

OH MY GOODNESS. That EE picture! It's too cute!! I'm enjoying reading your report so far!!

Have you stayed at Lake Buena Vista Resort before?! That may be the one for us in January!!

Does anyone know, is it inside/how close is it to the WDW gates??

I do have a lot more pictures to put up from the trip, but just have not gotten to it yet

Which Lake Buena Vista Resort are you looking at? There is one right outside of Downtown Disney, that I believe has recently been renovated. It has its own transportation to the parks, but is not physically on Disney Property.

We stayed at the Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa
http://www.lbvorlandoresort.com/
It is all condos, so it works out well for us when we are traveling with another family. It is really spacious and only about a 10-15 minute drive from the parks.

 

[Missoutandabout]

Look what we got yesterday!



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Ah-HA! Found you again. That was easy enough even with sigs turned off.

That's a lovely color. (And I almost opted for the green you got except that's what the hubs wanted, so I went for red.)

 

[babyberger]

Ah-HA! Found you again. That was easy enough even with sigs turned off.

That's a lovely color. (And I almost opted for the green you got except that's what the hubs wanted, so I went for red.)

I tried to get David to pick a different color than Steven so we would have 4 different ones, but he was set ok blue, lol!

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[jennyjinx3]

I have been neglecting ÿour report! Can you forgive me? I love your bands!

 

[babyberger]

I have been neglecting ÿour report! Can you forgive me? I love your bands!

I really haven't added much, so no forgiveness needed

 

[babyberger]

I didn't say much about Lake Buena Vista Resort Village & Spa yet. So here it goes.

We started going here years ago with our cousins so that the two families could share a large unit and all be together. The kids were little then and we usually had breakfast and dinner in the room. Having a full kitchen was priceless and we made total use out of it. Now that the kids are older and we stay in the parks latter we only use the kitchen for breakfast really. But it is still nice to have the option of not having to eat park food for every meal.

The unit we book is the largest, it is 2170 sq. ft. with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. The unit has 2 full masters, each with a king bed and Jacuzzi tub and 2 additional bedrooms with 2 twin beds in each. There is also a living room, full kitchen, wet bar, dining area, and huge balcony.

Although I truly miss being on property, this is the way to go if you are traveling with another family or a group!

And we even got a towel animal

 

[babyberger]

Though I would finally upload some pictures from the first trip


The cousins!


Brain freeze at Libterty Tree Tavern


Cousins holding hands


Time to make some noise!


Let's go for a Whirl!


Cooling off with some ice cream


Silly cousins at Sci-Fi


Cruising at Sci-Fi (I am actually ducked down behind them in the car, lol)


The car Steven designed at Test Track

 

[babyberger]

I am an obsessive planner, over think and plan everything. So how is it 6:30am on a travel day and I haven't even started to pack? Going to be a frantic next few hours until we get ok the road.

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[jennyjinx3]

Drive Safe and have a great trip Melissa!

 

[babyberger]

Just wanted to share some thoughts from this trip so far.

Hotel thoughts:

First, I forgot how much I hate downtown Orlando. The traffic, the noise, etc. The Crowne Plaza is a decent hotel, rooms have been updated but the building is old and is right near the bus and train station which means noisy nights. At one point last night I said to hubby I felt like we were in "My Cousin Vinny" with the train whistle blowing at the wee hours. I was happy to check out this morning and make our way onto Disney property. When the kids and I pulled into POP, Steven said, "oh, it's a motel". I laughed and thought he had just gotten used to my spoiled ways and preferred the deluxe resorts. But tonight he kept telling us how staying a motel means more mosquitos when we are walking to the room, waiting for the elevator, every time we open the door etc. He isn't wrong I honestly can't remember the last time we stayed value and after tonight I can tell you this probably is the last. Beds are small, which we knew, but we forgot no glasses, no mugs, etc. We bring a travel Keurig but always have mugs in the room, not tomorrow morning, sigh. We enjoy a late night cocktail, thankfully we both have our travel coffee cups that we are using for cocktails, bit don't fit under the travel Keurig, lol. I truly miss having a balcony to unwind at night on and enjoy a quiet cup of coffee in the morning on. I wanted to stay for the fireworks tonight but the kids were tired and cranky. Had we been staying at CR I could have enjoyed them with my evening cocktail from the privacy of our own balcony. We also did not utilize bus transportation, knowing that Steven has a hard time waiting for buses and it always seems like there is soooo many people distinguished for the buses to and from the value resorts. But this also means we were taking the truck anyway, so what is the difference to drive to Pop or off property. As much as I missed being on property when stayed off property last month, I have a new appreciation for the space, the balcony, and the amenities. So I guess unless we have a great rate and are staying at a deluxe we will be staying off property from here on out

Park thoughts:

Last night we went right to Epcot even though it was the start if Food & Wine. Future World wasn't bad at all, we rode Mission Space, Test Track, Malestrom, and Soarin. We even had a mini Dis meet with Ginny from from the RC board and shared an ice cream in France It was the first time I had taken the two "little ones" to the park myself and I survived. I used to take Andrew when he was little all the time by myself but I that was only one child and I was young, lol. This morning we made our way to AK to meet Candace fro the RC board and ride Expedition Everest, Dinosaur and Primevalwhirl. We then had an early lunch before heading back to downtown Orlando to pick up David. Steven loves being able to get gluten free pizza at Disney and Pizzafari is his all time favorite! We returned to AK with daddy in hand Back to EE for all of us to ride, the the kids convinced David to go on again, I chose to sit out for that one we finally made our way to the safari before heading to MK for the evening. None have the parks have been super busy but we have been utilizing the GAC especially since I know the program is changing soon

More to come latter!

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[jennyjinx3]

Melissa everything you said sums up our hesitations with not staying deluxe. It is so worth it if we can swing it we will. But glad to hear you are going with the flow...and also good that you are utilizing the GAC while you still can.

 

[babyberger]

Melissa everything you said sums up our hesitations with not staying deluxe. It is so worth it if we can swing it we will. But glad to hear you are going with the flow...and also good that you are utilizing the GAC while you still can.

It's so hard to go back after staying deluxe. I know people say it can be done, but I just can't. I gave it a try though and can now speak from experience

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[babyberger]

A few more thoughts as everyone else sleeps in

I forgot how much I hate the layout of the value and mod rooms, with the beds being right next to the door. I slept closest to the door and it was just a freaky feeling staring at a door all night.

Based on JanetB's recommendations we had requested a top floor in the 50's section (Sarah's choice). Even though we checked in early our requests were met and we are on the 4the floor in bldg 2. We have a view of the lake and the location is very quiet. We had also requested a refrigerator for medical purposes, knowing that there has been a refrigerator issues and assured we would have one. With no surprise there was not a fridge in the room when we checked in but a quick call fixed that and it was in the room when we returned in the afternoon.

The MagicBands have been fun to test. Makes entering the park so easy without having to dig out, pass out, and the collect everyone's passes. We scheduled a few FastPass+ things but never ended up using them. David was able to use his band for charging but my PIN wasn't working for some reason. I believe since we are checking out we will not be able to use the bands for charging after today, but can still use them for admission and FastPass+ selections. But having everything right on your wrist is really convienent. I hope they figure out a way to load the bands using credit cards, gift cards, even cash when you are not staying on property.

The kids are starting to stir. We have our sights set on DHS this morning

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[pas130]

Hi Lovey we loved Pop, but it IS a big difference not having a balcony...it wasn't as bad for us having 2 rooms at least. Would you believe I just realized you stayed at LBVR..we were there last year WE LOVED IT! Our only complaint was the pool was a wee bit chilly, it didn't get a lot of sun I guess. And the parking was tricky at night, but we always got back early.

The kids are growing SO fast!!Oh my (and I love the brain freeze pic)

Glad the parks aren't too crowded, and YAY for DISmeets!!

 

[babyberger]

Well, I was afraid this would happen, we are no longer booked at BLT for Feb 1-8 We actually made this decision a couple of weeks ago, but I did not post it here. Steven had been home sick for a couple days with a bad cold and seemed to take forever to catch up at school when he returned. We quickly realized that there is no way he could miss an entire week of school, even if I do get some of his work ahead of time.

For now we booked a long weekend at CR in January to get our CR/BLT fix in at least for a couple nights. As always, it will depend on the discounts that are released next week.

 

[pas130]

Well, I was afraid this would happen, we are no longer booked at BLT for Feb 1-8 We actually made this decision a couple of weeks ago, but I did not post it here. Steven had been home sick for a couple days with a bad cold and seemed to take forever to catch up at school when he returned. We quickly realized that there is no way he could miss an entire week of school, even if I do get some of his work ahead of time.

For now we booked a long weekend at CR in January to get our CR/BLT fix in at least for a couple nights. As always, it will depend on the discounts that are released next week.

I am already dreading taking the kiddos out of school for 3 days...but they will have the weekend at least to catch up. Sorry about BLT, but this minitrips can at least give you your WDW fix